Development Authority

2014 PLC(CS) 900 LAHORE-HIGH-COURT-LAHORE Judicial Precedent

S. 7Pakistan Engineering Council Act, 1975 (V of 1976), S.2(xxv)Development Authority"Engineering Organization"Determination

Development Authority was an "engineering organization" which was required to carry out not only functions of professional engineers, but also provided engineering services

Work which needed to be carried out by an employee of the Development Authority was related to the engineering professional work and engineering services, hence the requirement of registration with the Pakistan Engineering Council was applicable on the employees who were carrying out these engineering works and services for Development Authority

Authority had sought the services of the petitioners for performing functions of an engineer and an architect as defined in S.7 of the Development of Cities Act, 1976, therefore, the provisions of both Pakistan Engineering Council Act, 1975 and Development of Cities Act, 1976 were applicable to the petitioners.

2013 YLR 311 ISLAMABAD Judicial Precedent

Arts. 25 & 199Constitutional PetitionDevelopment AuthorityAllotment of plots to employees on deputationCut-off date for allotment of plots to employees

Petitioners served on deputation in the Development Authority and contended that they had been denied the right of allotment of plots; that other similarly placed persons had been extended such benefit/right that the cut-off-date, whereby only those deputation employees were entitled to allotment who were serving Development Authority as of that date was illegal

Validity

Petitioners served at the Development Authority much prior to the cut-off date for allotment of plots

Benefit of allotment of plots could not be extended invariably to all employees, whether regular or on deputation, unless they fulfilled the prescribed criteria

Contentions of the petitioners, if accepted, would mean that all employees on deputation who served at the Development Authority in different cadres during past decades would become entitled to allotment of plots

By providing a cut-off date, in fact, anomaly of a situation had been avoided, which was based on reasonableness and a standard of rationale

Petitioners could not pray for equal treatment when it was their case that they had left the Development Authority much prior to the cut-off date

Constitutional petition was dismissed, in circumstances.

2013 MLD 255 ISLAMABAD Judicial Precedent

Ss. 9, 10 & 11Constitution of Pakistan, Art. 199Constitutional petitionDevelopment AuthorityPermission for plantation and beautification of State-owned land

Petitioner was a Housing Society, and had obtained permission from Development Authority for plantation and beautification of land owned by the Authority

Said permission was subsequently withdrawn

Contention of the petitioner Housing Society was that a vested right had been created in their favour when said permission was granted, and prayed that withdrawal of the same be declared illegal

Validity

Executive functionaries being custodians of State land were bound to protect the same from invasions, misuse and encroachments, and if such executive functionaries failed to perform their duties, the presumption would be that they were privy to criminal acts

No mechanism existed through which permission for plantation and beautification were accorded and for ascertaining as to how much land should be handed over to societies and under what conditions and prescribed limits

High Court observed that such practices were adopted to open gates of corruption

Acts of the Housing Society constituted criminal offence or criminal breach of trust as State land was entrusted to the Society as a trustee, and the Society's management misappropriated and converted the same to its own use

No vested right accrued to the Society

No fundamental right of the Society had been infringed

Constitutional petition was dismissed, in circumstances.